The media aggravates me!!

[MosMom]

WHY WHY WHY will they show a pile of dead american soldiers but not show coverage of live ones being kept prisoner? I understand the reason not to show the footage but that reason holds true for the picture too!

"The footage might upset family members"...but family members won't be upset when they see the pile of dead soldiers KNOWING their loved one is in there! It doesn't matter if you can't see faces! You KNOW that one of those bodies is your loved one! I just really think CNN shouldn't have shown that. I don't know if any other channels have shown it as I just caught a glimpse of this while making lunch. I just think it was incredibly cold hearted and shown simply for shock value. I'm just furious. There is zero sensitivity in the media.

 

[RoutemanDan]

I think they should show it all.Time for Americans to toughen up a little and face the facts.There are many people who hate us.
I feel for the families,I really do,but I think we are to complacent here.

 

[jamsmom]

I thought that NO USA station was showing any of this....as it should be. I thought maybe it was bad enough that they mentioned first names and home towns and gave the impression that the families may not have been notified. However, I could be wrong and maybe the families had been notified.

 

[wvjules]

I rarely watch CNN. I watch FoxNews and they expressly said they will NOT show the footage of the soldiers being held or the ones that have perished.

 

[bumcat]

wvjules - I also have been watching fox news and have seen the dead soldiers three times once about 10 -30 minutes ago! Sorry I'm not good at keeping track of time. When I saw it the second time on fox news they said it was legal to show because the soldiers could not be identified!! I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Didn't Fox show it the first time when they had Donald Rumsden with them ?

 

[nativetxn]

Fox showed the dead soldiers yesterday, Jules.

I'm so aggravated about it. They just couldn't stand it, could they? All we heard was how terrible Al Jazeera was for showing the dead soldiers and the prisoners then they turn around and do it themselves, no faces, and a disclaimer that weren't doing anything legally "wrong".

Can you imagine what WWII would have been like for America if they had Fox News and CNN and second by second coverage? Oh my goodness, it would have given everyone shell shock.

I think I'm going to have to just turn off the television and possibly watch only network news once or twice a day. These news stations are just aggravating me.

 

[kendall]

would be nice - on all sides. What is disconcerting is that while the public is upset over the photos and video of dead US soldiers, I have also noticed footage of dead and dying (burning alive) Iraqi soldiers - yet we don't have a public outcry over those images.....

People are dying - US, Iraqi; soldiers, innocents - war is ugly and for the most part our society has a very sanitized view of it. The media has been embedded to tell a story, and the decision to air information as well as visual media is a tough one. I can only image the graphic images we will see after this conflict is over. However at that point they will be serving a different purpose in a different time.

At this point, I simply choose to turn off the TV. I can read online news from around the world when I am ready for an update.

 

[bsnyder]

You really have to question what goes on at the major media outlets in this country. They are either so completely naive, so fixated on producing storylines that sell, or have such unrealistic expectations for this war that it's mind boggling.

Approximately fifteen marines died yesterday. This is fifteen more deaths than I or anyone else in the country would like to have seen. These were incredibly brave young men and women who died fighting for a great and honorable cause. They were also sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters.

Still, while we need to mourn and recognize these losses at a personal level, we also need to put them in perspective of the overall campaign. Did the media really expect no U.S. soldiers would die? That no one would be taken prisoner? That there wouldn't be any civilian casualties? That is exactly what you'd believe if you read the headlines today:

U.S. Forces Take Heavy Casualties - Susan Glasser, Washington Post
Doubts Raised on Strategy - Thomas Ricks, Washington Post
Marines Meet Potent Enemy in Deadly Fight - Michael Wilson, NY Times
Bush Moves to Prepare Public for a Harder War - R.W. Apple, Jr. NY Times
Baghdad's Spirits Rise - John Daniszewski, Los Angeles Times
Risky Fight for Baghdad Nears - Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times

The Washington Post's headlines are particularly appalling. It's less than one week into the campaign and the U.S. has suffered casualties representing less than .0075% of the total fighting force and the Post suggests that the whole war strategy is now in doubt. Does Tom Ricks really believe this or does he just have to find something to put on the front page that will sell papers for his bosses?

 

[KELLIE]

I found the coverage sicking. Why they show any of the war I will never know. The goverment wants to stop all programs with villonce. Why are they not stoping this.Why are the press riding in the tanks. Why are they on the front lines.I did see something very moving last night. A milltary man was on the front lines and the man in the press let him use his cell phone to call his wife who just gave birth to their frist child.
GOD BLESS ALL THE TROOPS